T/C Omega

C

cmac

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Just pic'd up a TC omega inline 45 cal. I bought it for hunting season and need to know more about the proper loads for it. Can anyone advise me as to what Sabot brands to use? ex. Knight, Hornady, Barnes.Trying to figure out what is the best set up for this rifle. ex 180 grain, 195 grain... Any advise would be appreciated

cmac
 
Been messing with Thompson for a long time, and I will tell you straight up, if you are not using products made by Thompson FOR Thompson, then you won't get the best performance out of your omega. Some stuff I have tried will work pretty good, but if you buy their stuff it seems to always work better.

This isn't a Thompson commercial, but I spent a lot of money trying different loads and sabots, and bullets, of different companies, and so far haven't found anything out there any better than their stuff.
 
Thank you

All I have been able to find are Thompson Center Shockwave Sabots in 200 grain. Do you know of any other being offered by Thompson? Have you used these?

cmac
 
Thompson makes a lot of different bullets and sabots for their rifles. Cabela's has a few of them in there. Fox Ridge has a store inside the Cabela's store, and does most of their custom work. The people there have always been very helpful, and knowledgable of Thompson rifles. They can probably tell you what you want to know about your particular rifle.

Personnaly I'm shotting a 50 caliber Encore, and using 100 grains of 777, with a Thompson T/C XTP MAG Sabot (black) and a .44 magnum 250 grain Hornady Jacketed hollow point bullet.

Ask Fox ridge about buying the sabots in a bulk pack of 50 sabots, and you can get the bullets (100 to a box) from your local gun shop. This will make your expense a lot less than buying them 10 at a time.

I buy 50 sabots for about $8.00 and 1/2 box of bullets for 7.00. This gives me $15.00 for 50 rounds. What you are shooting is probably costing you about$17.00 for 30 rounds.

I don't particularly care for any of the polymer pointed or belted bullets, since the velocity of a muzzle loader isn't going to be enough for them to really make a difference at 100 yards, which is the majority of my shooting. The set up I am using will drive "same hole" groups at 50 yards and shoot 1 1/2" groups at 100 yards. I tried the shockwave bullets, but they really don't shoot any more accurate than what I am shooting now. I think the polymer tip on muzzle loader bullets is really more about making money than being any more accurate. Some of the guys here hunted with them last year and did not like the way they expanded on deer, so I have never hunted with them.

My rifle is designed to be 150 grain shooter, but will really only shoot about 130 grains with any real accuracy, and the velocity of 150 grains of 777 might be enough to give you about 2100 FPS which would still not be fast enough to make much difference in the bullets performance over the hollow points I'm shooting now, so I don't see any reason to put up with the extra re-coil for deer.
 
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I agree with WBB. Use the Thompson stuff in your Thompson muzzleloader. The tolerances and specs just line up better for best results.

My rifle is also a .50-caliber Encore. I prefer to use Pyrodex or Goex (REAL blackpowder! :eek: ) in mine. At 110gr of Pyrodex RS, it one-holes at 50 yards. My only group tried at 100 with this combination was about 2.5", which isn't bad for a peep. I'm sorely tempted to scope this bad boy.

As for .45-caliber sabots, T/C offered what I believe is a .45 caliber version of the Mag Express sabot with a 155 or 180gr .40-caliber (or 10mm if you will) XTP pistol bullet. For some reason I think it was called the XR Sabot or something like that.

BTW, WBB, I chrony'ed my 20" Katahdin with 3 777 pellets and a 250gr Shockwave a while back. The speed was just under 2100-fps. A full-length barrel should get around 2150 or maybe a smidgen more. Not enough to make me gush over shooting a pointed bullet either! ;) This is again, in a .50.

Edited: I've tried the Hornady sabot and bullet combinations, and they work OK, although they load harder than the T/Cs and don't shoot quite as well. I've also tried the 295gr Powerbelt, and my best group to date with those is about 2" for 3 at 50-yards. Not terribly bad, but not particularly impressive either.
 
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P-990,

You need to scope that puppy, they shoot like a 30-30. Can't hit it EVERY time, but at 100 yards, I can take a poker chip out. (About 4 out of 5 times)

I put a Simmons Aetec 2.5 x 10 on mine and I love it.

Thanks for the input on the chrony. I always figured thats about what they do, but your the first person I know of that has actually put one through a chrony. I don't suppose you ever shot a 240 grain bullet behind 100 grains through it, have you ? I figure about 1800 FPS, but thats only a guess.
 
WBB,

Close. Chrony'ed them (240s) at about 1700 from my Katahdin, so 1800 is probably ballpark. I tested the 300gr Hornadys today, 105gr of loose at about 1600.

And yes, I really, really need to get a scope! :o
 
hello and thanks for the input. I will be receiving my Omega this weekend so hopefully i will be able to do some shooting with it. Basically i will first try out this combo and see how it works. Let me run this by you guys and see what you think. 100 grains of 777 with T/C 180 gr. Super XR Sabots. As for my primer choice im looking at Remington Kleanbore. Any opinions on a primer choice?
 
Primers? I just use the Remington 209 Kleanbores that are muzzleloader-specific. I've had OK results with regular ol' Win 209 shotshell primers as well, but they seem to leave more fouling in the action area of my Encore, which I'm assuming is from the increased flame volume of the primer.

Otherwise sounds like a good place to start. See below for the reason why I don't shoot pelletized powder anymore! ;)

nateseye.jpg


Katahdin001.jpg
 
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Winchester has some new primers out specifically made not to foul. They are in the Cabelas book. I think I'm going to try them soon as I can. I Think they are called Winchester 777 Primers. I'm hoping that will cure the old crud ring problems.
 
I have owned Thompson Center ML’s all my life and currently hunt with an Omega .50 cal fitted with a Leupold 3 X 9 scope. I have tried lots of different combinations of bullets and powder. I respectfully disagree that your best accuracy will be using TC bullets in a TC gun. Every gun shoots differently and finding that perfect combination for your gun is the key. After many months of trial and error I have found the following combination works best in MY TC Omega:
245 gr. Powerbelt Aerotip bullets with 130 gr. Loose Pyrodex powder.
That said, this combination may or may not work for you.
I consistently hold 1.5” groups at 100 yards with this combination.
As stated earlier, the key is finding the combination that works best for YOU and YOUR gun.
1629omega.JPG
 
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